Humiliation
by the merrinator
Summary: Neville is conflicted about asking someone to the Yule Ball...F&E, First opposite sex paring! lol. NVHG sorta. I guess it's implied...


A/N: Humiliation. Oh no! Oh well lol.

I've been working on OMG Music. I'm far into it! I hope I can get it done while I'm still working on the F&E's so I can just post them.

Also, today (08/28/07) is the last day of freedom (for CPS peeps). I am all sad and stuff T.T

DISCLAIMER! I don't own JKR's imagination. So there.

Humiliation 

Neville Longbottom walked up to the bulletin board to see what was going on that day.

_YULE BALL _

_On December 24__th__, a Yule Ball will take place in the Great Hall, starting at 9:30 pm. _

_It is a formal event…_

But Neville read no more. He was fretting; who knew that the school would have a Yule Ball? He thought the Triwizard Tournament that was going to preoccupy his time this year. He looked around.

Neville knew that he would have to ask a girl to the ball. He, unfortunately, didn't see anyone he fancied. At least, not in the room now. Lavender was too talkative, Pavarti was just weird, and Ginny was Ron's sister. Neville knew that Ron wouldn't be happy if he asked out Ginny, and neither would Dean (who fancied Ginny).

He sat on a couch, sighing. He would never get a date.

Just then Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked into the Common Room, Harry and Ron fuming.

"How the bloody hell are we going to get dates?!" Ron yelled, causing some first years to scurry away.

"Really! I'm not good with birds," Harry said solemnly, sitting down next to Neville. Neville smiled at Harry; Harry just nodded in acknowledgement. "Hello Neville. You have a date?"

"No," Neville said.

"Me neither. I don't see how we are going to get dates," he added, running his hand through his unruly black hair.

"Correction: I don't see how Neville is going to get a date," Ron said, causing Hermione and Harry to give him a dirty look, and Neville to blush.

"Ronald! Don't be so rude. He'll get a date, right Nev?" Neville looked up at Hermione, who was smiling nicely at him. Neville nodded. "See?" Hermione said, looking at Ron. "He can get a date. I don't know about you, though. With that attitude, you'll turn even Seamus off."

At the sound of his name, Seamus looked around from across the room. "I'm needed?" he asked. Hermione shook her head, and Seamus rose an eyebrow. "Then why you saying my name, Granger?"

"No reason," she said, smiling. He just rolled his eyes and looked back at Pavarti. Neville, however, listened to Harry, Ron, and Hermione talk. He noticed that Hermione was cute in a bookish way. Smiling to himself, he said, "I'm off to bed. G'night."

Hermione looked at Neville and smiled. "Goodnight, Neville." Neville blushed and walked up to his dorm.

As the days went on, Neville's small crush on Hermione grew and grew. He told himself one night while staring up at his curtains, 'I have about two months before I go to the Yule Ball. Alone. I guess I can try and ask Hermione…'

So, a month passed, and Neville still hadn't asked Hermione. His crush grew stronger though, and one day in Care of Magical Creatures, he walked over to the Golden Trio.

"'Ello, 'Mione. Can I…c-can I talk to you a-a-alone?" Ron sniggered as Hermione nodded. They walked to the edge of the forest where no one was. "Her-H-er…Hermione."

'Dammit! What a time to stutter,' Neville thought, cursing himself. Hermione rose an eyebrow. "Hermione…wouldyoulitogotothballwime?"

"Er…what?" Hermione said, confused.

"I-would you l-like to go to the b-b-ball with m-me?"

"Oh." Hermione looked pensive while Neville stood frozen, waiting. "You know what, Nev? I'm sorry, but someone's already asked me, and I said that I'd go. But I can get you a date!"

"You can?" Neville said sadly. He felt like crap.

"Yeah; Ginny wants to go to the ball, but she's too young, only being in third year. If you'd like, you can go with her."

"Er…sure. But only platonically, right?" Hermione nodded. "Okay. Let's go back to the lesson now…" Neville walked with Hermione back to the class. Before they parted, Hermione put her hand on Neville's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Neville. If it weren't for my date, I'd really go with you."

"Honestly?"

"Honestly." She smiled at him and then walked away briskly.

The next day, Neville was bombarded with questions.

"Did you really ask out 'Mione?"

"You know she likes Ron, right?"

"She's too good for you anyway, Nev."

"Are you that stupid?"

"Stupid?" He looked at Seamus, who had asked the last question. Seamus nodded, while Dean just rolled his eyes.

"Yeah. Didn't you know that she's going with Viktor Krum?"

Neville choked on his ham sandwich. "What?!"

"Yeah, it's true," Dean mumbled, slurping away at his cheesy potato soup. "He asked her a month ago."

As Neville cried on the inside, Hermione and Ginny walked up to them. "There you go, Gin! A date."

"What? You mean I have to go with _him?!"_ She pointed at Neville, disgust written all over her freckled face. Seamus and Neville snickered as Neville put his head in his hands.

A/N: omg it was a straight coupling! My first one lol. That's pretty sad. Well, I hoped you like it. You can drop me a line if you did! Next up are the 'J's, with 'Jealousy'.


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